P-P R AND D P · Public-private research and development partnerships launched by scientific research institutions: Theory and evidence from France

Final Activity Report Summary - P-P R AND D P (Public-Private Research and Development Partnerships Launched by Scientific Research Institutions: Theory and Evidence from France)

This research project investigated two different types of public-private partnerships that were crucial for entrepreneurship and innovation policy in Europe: 1. the supply of business and financial support to entrepreneurial firms in business incubators, especially in high-tech industries where public funding played a more important role; 2. the diverse collaborations existing between public laboratories and industry to exchange and/or develop scientific knowledge and technical innovations. The investigation relied on theory and new data collected in French and European surveys. From a theoretical analysis of business incubation, we learned that obtaining finance was difficult for entrepreneurs because uncertainty could not be mitigated by investors unless they could influence the investment decisions of new firms. However, by bundling finance and business support services, business incubators could curb opportunistic tendencies, reduce starting-up risks and enable financing to firms that would otherwise face investment shortages. The joint supply of business support and finance could therefore be an effective mechanism to foster entrepreneurship. A survey of European business incubators was designed and implemented to collect detailed data about business incubation that was representative at the European level. The responses of 170 business incubator managers showed that finance and business support went hand-in-hand and that the incubation process was leveraging government and EU funds to solve shortages of private finance. Among the many findings of this survey, it was worth highlighting the large and increasing offer of business support services, with an estimated 5 500 people working in Europe's business incubators, helping around 24 000 firms to start-up and grow. Public-private collaboration could also be employed to promote technological diffusion and innovation. A survey of 130 laboratories affiliated to France's large public research organisations revealed that the added value of collaborating with industry was connected to the extra funds, materials, research suggestions and experimental data. These tangible and intangible benefits for public labs were accompanied by an evolution of research towards more applied areas and better practices. By working together it was possible for public-private research and development (R&D) to produce on the one hand publications and doctoral theses, and, on the other hand, new products and processes. Intellectual property was found to have a limited role in this process, both because collaboration frequently relied on two-way and informal interactions, and because contractual safeguards and secrecy were important for appropriating and exploiting knowledge outputs. To the extent that something valuable was produced, it was often owned jointly by the public research organisation and the sponsoring firm. The survey showed that collaborating with industry had drawbacks too, including limitations on disseminating scientific results completely and rapidly. In this context, public labs actively protected their knowledge base through inventories and contracts.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union